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Can a digital timer operate mother's gas fireplace?

10-13-2012, 04:42 AM

Mother's gas fireplace is operated from a wall light switch.
She may forget to turn the fireplace off.

Is there a non-ticking timer which can automatically turn the fireplace off? Update: PlumbeRick is correct. The fireplace ON/OFF valve is operated from the milli-volt electricity created by the.rmopile.

Yes, but I do not think a fire starting automatically is such a good idea.
With that said,... Some intermatic digital wall switch timers have separate leads (relay contacts) that can be used for whatever you want to switch.

Yes, but I do not think a fire starting automatically is such a good idea.
With that said,... Some intermatic digital wall switch timers have separate leads (relay contacts) that can be used for whatever you want to switch.

Thank you.
I mean a digital count-down timer like a bathroom fan timer.
You press a button for the time desired.
Then, if forgotten, the fire goes out.

I can run 120 VAC up to the timer to operate the device. But it must have isolated contacts for the millivolt gas valve operation.
Do the spring-wound timers emit a ticking sound?

Comment

Legrand makes a digital timer meant for use on bathroon vent fans. It has 5 preset times, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes. It must be manually started then counts down to off at one of the 5 times above. I don't think they have one with longer times, but it might be worth a look. You can find them at Lowes and elsewhere.

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Legrand makes a digital timer meant for use on bathroon vent fans. It has 5 preset times, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes. It must be manually started then counts down to off at one of the 5 times above. I don't think they have one with longer times, but it might be worth a look. You can find them at Lowes and elsewhere.

I am not familiar with that timer, but it sounds like it is designed to operate on 120v AC, most gas fireplaces need switches/timers designed to operate on 500mv. I have seen normal wall switches build enough internal resistance over the years where they would not function properly with gas fireplaces.

I am not familiar with that timer, but it sounds like it is designed to operate on 120v AC, most gas fireplaces need switches/timers designed to operate on 500mv. I have seen normal wall switches build enough internal resistance over the years where they would not function properly with gas fireplaces.

You are correct, it is a line voltage timed switch, and not a set of dry contacts that could be used to switch a control voltage.

I came back to this thread this morning to add just such a comment to my post about the switch, and see that you have pointed this out. Thanks for catching that.

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Comment

you could try a micro-plc or if you are feeling adventurous you could try an arduino uno
these computers are the size of a pack of smokes and you program them in java code
you can program them using a pc or you can program it via bluetooth from a smart phone

shooting the s*** is a lot more fun when you use hollow points (much more splatter)